Now is a dangerous moment in our history to be fostering anger against immigrants and to stand beside the Trump administration in their hateful policies towards immigrants. Yet, Katko was personally called out by the Washington Post for his false statement about DREAMers -- undocumented immigrants who came here as children -- as an excuse to vote against their protection. Katko stood by Vice President Mike Pence in Syracuse and held a private fundraiser (the event cost the City of Syracuse $12,000) at the same time that the Trump administration was actively and intentionally separating children from their families at the border and Pence thanked Katko for “turning Trump principles into legislation.” A report last week by a U.S. Government watchdog outlined the extreme trauma that these children have faced. Katko should have stood up to Trump and canceled the fundraiser at that moment.

Last month, a large number of us rallied outside of Katko’s office, calling for him to condemn racism by Trump that makes us feel unsafe and fosters white supremacist violence like the recent shooting in El Paso. The day after we rallied, instead of speaking out against racism and xenophobia at that sensitive moment, Katko sent out an email to his campaign list attacking New York’s policies protecting immigrants.

Congressman Katko, words matter. If you want to identify yourself as a true leader separate from the bigotry of Trump, then you need to speak out immediately and strongly to condemn his words and violent actions of white supremacists. Words of our leaders matter to our feeling of safety and feeling of belonging in Central New York. You are in the minority in Congress, so have less of a chance to shape policy, but you do have a chance to shape public discourse in our region.

We are a region of many refugees and immigrants, of Jews, Muslims and Christians, and of all races. Use your voice to make us feel that we all belong, that hatred and bigotry are not welcome here.